ISSN 0915-3160

平成三十年十月十日発行（年四回一、四、七、十月の十日発行）通巻百二十号

No.

4

Vol. 30 October 2018
AutumnNew Breeze

S pec i a l Feat u re

MIC Fifth Generation Mobile Communications System (5G)
Field Trials Special Issue

Overview of 5G Field Trials 2017

NTT DOCOMO Activities in 5G Field Trials

Verification Trials of 5G Communications in High-speed Mobile Environments

5G Trial Overview (FY2017) Connected cars, Construction Equipment Remote Operation,
Transmission of High Resolution Video from Drones
Trials of 5th Generation Mobile Communication Systems in Indoor Environments

5G Overall System Trial

Demonstration of Disaster-proof Warehouse and Smart Office Applications
Using the Multiple Simultaneous Connectivity of 5G

New Breeze Vol. 30 No.4 Autumn

New Breeze

October 2018

C O N T E N T S

ISSN 0915-3160

Quarterly of The ITU Association of JapanBN Gyoen Bldg., 1-17-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo 160-0022 Japan
Tel: +81-3-5357-7610 Fax: +81-3-3356-8170

		 Special Feature — M
 IC Fifth Generation Mobile Communications
1

Overview of 5G Field Trials 20176

Verification Trials of 5G Communications in High-speed Mobile
Environments

https://www.ituaj.jp/?page_id=310

3

Editorial Committee

9

Chairman: Wataru Kameyama
Members: Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications, Association of Radio Industries
and Businesses, Communication Line Products
Association of Japan, Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi, Ltd.,
Japan Broadcasting Corporation,
KDDI CORPORATION, Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation, National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology, NEC Corporation,
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONECORPORATION, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.,
Panasonic Corporation, Softbank Corp.,
Sony Corporation,
The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association,
The Telecommunication Technology Committee,
and TOSHIBA CORPORATION

13
15
18

NTT DOCOMO Activities in 5G Field Trials

5G Trial Overview (FY2017)
Connected cars, Construction Equipment Remote Operation,
Transmission of High Resolution Video from Drones

Trials of 5th Generation Mobile Communication Systems in Indoor
Environments
5G Overall System Trial— An application of 5G Ultra-Low-Latency Communication
to Truck Platooning —Demonstration of Disaster-proof Warehouse and Smart Office
Applications Using the Multiple Simultaneous Connectivity of 5G

		 Business Trends
21

Smoothing the Transition from the Fixed Telephone Network to the
IP Network		Report

Publisher: Toru Fukuoka
Editors:

System (5G) Field Trials Special Issue

Junichi Kishimoto
Kaori Ohno
Naoko Ishida28

Overview of the 2018 White Paper on Information andCommunications in Japan

		Column

Letters to New Breeze

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Overview of 5G Field Trials 2017

New-Generation Mobile Communications OfficeRadio Department
Telecommunications Bureau
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

The Fifth Generation Mobile Communications
System (5G) will pave the way for many new capabilities
and features such as ultra-high speed, massive machinetype communications, ultra-reliability, and low latency.
5G is expected to be developed in the years ahead as theessential ICT infrastructure supporting the IoT era andJapan’s economic growth.
Japan’s “Growth Strategy 2018”, approved by the
Cabinet on June 15 this year, highlights the importance of“rapid dissemination and development of 5G in rural areasof Japan”. 5G is required as a powerful engine for growthnationwide, not only in urban areas but also in rural areas
to activate those region and resolve the problems besetting
rural areas.
To make Japan as one of the first countries to commercialize 5G in the world, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications (MIC) has strengthened
international partnerships with Europe, U.S., and other
Asian countries. In October 2016, MIC consulted the Information and Communication Council about “Technical
Conditions Concerning New Generation Mobile Communication System” to begin consideration of allocating
spectrum bandwidth to 5G, and the Council reported on
5G technical requirements in July 31, 2018. MIC will allocate spectrum to 5G by the end of the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, MIC continues to promote R&D
to commercialize 5G and carry out field trials todemonstrate actual 5G applications. The trials began lastyear, and stakeholders in a number of relevant fields—
transportation, tourism, medicine, etc.—took part in six
demonstration projects that have already yielded goodresults.
This special issue provides an overview of the 5G
Field Trials (hereafter Field Trials) of 2017 sponsored by
MIC.

1. Introduction

The capabilities of 5G represents a major advancement
over current wireless systems—very high speed of 10
Gbps (100 times faster than LTE), up to a 1,000,000
connected devices /km2 (100 times the number of devices
supported by LTE), 1 ms delay (one-tenth the delay ofLTE)—which promises to open up all kinds of newservice offerings and applications across many different
industrial sectors.
3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and
ITU-R (ITU Radiocommunication Sector) have
stepped up international standardization activities tomake 5G a reality by the year 2020. Governments
and 5G promotional organizations of countries andregions around the world have been actively discussing
international coordination regarding spectrum for 5G, 5G
use cases, and migration scenarios from 4G to 5G withsome of the industries that have the most to gain from
exploiting 5G.
From this background, six projects were carried out
as part of the Field Trials to assess the performance of
5G and to clarify the technical conditions in different
test environments. These projects assessed radio wave
propagation characteristics and specific applications andservices when introducing 5G on frequency bands from
3.6 GHz to 4.2 GHz and from 4.4 GHz to 4.9 GHz(referred to as the 4.5 GHz band) and from 27.5 GHz to29.5 GHz.
This paper provides an overview of the Field Trials
and a detailed description of the six projects by thecompanies and organizations responsible for the projects.

2. Setting Technical Targets

Numerical targets were set to get an estimationof the achievement levels for the specific services andapplications under test.

New Breeze Autumn 20181

3. Preconditions

Preconditions for the 5G system were clearly specified
to define the system and ensure that there were no
inconsistencies among the various projects. Here weassume that the mobile communications system is the
5G system now being investigated by the 3GPP, which is
expected to be recommended by the ITU-R as the IMT2020 system.

4. Test Environment

We use the scenarios, technical performancerequirements, and required values for the evaluation
environment of 5G as defined by the ITU-R.
1) Usage Scenarios
The ITU-R drafted the recommendation “IMT
Vision” (M.2083), which summarizes the basic 5G
capabilities and concepts.
In this recommendation, three 5G usage scenarios aredescribed:(1) eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband)(2) mMTC (massive Machine Type Communications)(3) UR LLC ( U ltra Reliable Low Latenc yCommunications)
The eMBB scenario supports ultrahigh-speedtransmission of high-definition 4K/8K video and otherHD applications; the mMTC scenario supports a large
number of communication endpoints with infrastructure
maintenance, low-power IoT, and so on; and the URLLC
scenario supports real-time communication suchas autonomous driving, real-time operation of remoterobotics, and remote surgery.
5G does not require all of these scenarios in a single
network. Rather, 5G will create a communications
environment that satisfies a full range of needs bydelivering the performance needed to address thesevarious usage scenarios.

2

New Breeze Autumn 20182) Performance Requirements to be Achieved by 5G
ITU-R Recommendation M.2412 provides a
guideline for evaluating radio interface for IMT-2020(5G). Within the guideline, test environments are definedfor an evaluation that combines a usage scenario and ageographic environment. The evaluation environments
are classified as “indoor hot spots”, “dense urban”, “rural”,
and “urban wide areas.” The guideline is associated with alist of up to 13 requirements: peak data rate, and so on.
The key technical performance requirements in theguideline are a peak data rate of 20 Gbps, a connection
density of 1,000,000 devices/km2, and a latency of 1 ms.
The test environment for the Field Trials is fullycompliant with these guidelines.

5. Implementation System

The Field Trials were conducted in collaboration
with major telecom companies and institutions thatwere selected to execute the six projects. Applications
were provided by trial partners, and the 5G trials wereconducted not only in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but inrural parts of Japan as well.

6. Conclusion

There has been a great deal of interest within Japanand overseas in the results of performance assessments ofactual applications in the 2017 5G Field Trials. We haveshared the results at two conferences, and many inquiries
have been received from overseas.
The Field Trials are scheduled to continue for three
years and will focus on 5G services that help resolve
rural issues in 2019. Through these efforts, Japan willcommercialize 5G as the most advanced system in theworld, and 5G will provide a trigger for robust economic
growth in urban and rural areas throughout Japan.

NTT DOCOMO Activities in 5G Field Trials

Yukihiko Okumura
Satoshi Suyama
Jun Mashino

5G Laboratories
NTT DOCOMO, INC.

From the left: J un Mashino, Yukihiko Okumura,
Satoshi Suyama

1.Introduction
In addition to featuring higher capacity and transmission
speed, 5th generation mobile communication systems (5G) willfeature massive connectivity and ultra-reliable and low-latency
communication. These features are also highly anticipated forwhen commercial services begin in 2020. NTT DOCOMO has
been a primary implementer of the FY2017 Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications (MIC) initiative, “Study of technicalrequirements for 5th generation mobile communication systems,
which will enable ultra-high-speed communication exceeding
10 Gbps in densely populated areas” (study group one (GI)).
This article gives an overview of this study and introduces someexamples of trials in related application areas.

2. Trial Overview

the areas of entertainment, smart-city/smart-area, and medicine,in collaboration with partner enterprises (see Table). These casestudies are introduced below.

3. 5G field trials in the entertainment area
3.1 Entertainment system using VR/MRIn December 2017, we conducted a trial of a VR
entertainment system which captured video using a 4K highdefinition 360° live camera at Tokyo Skytree Town®, which
was then transmitted using 5G to a 220° wide viewing angle
head-mounted display for viewing (Figure 1). Stable delivery
was achieved using a variable-rate video encoder implemented
on the distribution server, compressing the video according to
the state of communications for each user, from one minute to
the next. During the same period, a 5G connection was madefrom inside the observation deck of Tokyo Skytree® (340 m

The concrete 5G field trials being conducted by the Ministryof Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)in various application fields are proceeding with a ■ Table: Organizations participating in GI and their roles
3-year plan starting in FY2018, keeping in mind
the implementation of 5G in society, building
an open environment in which enterprises anduniversities from around the world can participate,
and working toward a world-leading introduction of
5G in Japan. As part of this, NTT DOCOMO has
conducted studies to understand radio propagation
characteristics and evaluate 5G performance forultra-high-speed transmission using the 3.6-4.2
GHz, 4.4-4.9 GHz and 27.5-29.5 GHz bands.
These were done in densely-populated urban
environments with user terminals travelling at speeds
up to 30 km/h, so that 5G can be introduced using
these frequency bands. We observed throughputsof up to 10.2 Gbps with two users, both connectedin an outdoor environment at Tokyo Skytree
Town®, and this confirmed that ultra-high-speed
and high-capacity communication can be achievedin the field. Besides the radio transmission trial,
the study group GI evaluated radio propagation
cha racter ist ics, per for med simu lat ions oftransmission characteristics, and conducted trials
to check the feasibility of various 5G services in

New Breeze Autumn 20183

■ Figure 1: Entertainment system for trials

above the ground) to the roof of Asakusa train station EKIMISE
building, for a trial of a new communication style using mixedreality (MR) technology. For the trial, video of people inside the
Asakusa station building (Figure 3) was transmitted at speeds
up to 4.5 Gbps, even at the transmission distance of 1.2 km,
successfully reproducing the people from the remote location on a
3D holographic video display.

4.1 Facility monitoring
In November 2017 at the National Museum of Emerging
Science and Innovation (“Miraikan”), we conducted a trial of a
new security system for inside facilities, using high definition
surveillance camera video and face-recognition access gates. The
information needed to implement security for specified areas isrecognized in images obtained using the surveillance cameras
in real time, using image recognition technology involving facecomparison and AI. We confirmed the ability to increase thefrequency of face checks by a factor of six with 5G, compared withusing 4G.

3.2 Trials at Tokyo Skytree Town®
In March 2018, we built indoor and outdoor test environments
in Tokyo Skytree Town® and Tokyo Soramachi®, and verified thefeasibility of services using 5G in a densely populated commercial
facility (Figure 2). In one trial, 8K multi-channel video was
4.2 Wide-area monitoringtransmitted using 5G, confirming the ability to receive stable
In March 2018, we conducted a trial of wide-area monitoring
video quality after forward error correction on both the radio
using a 4K high-definition camera mounted on the observation
access (physical) layer and the video (application) layer. In a digitaldeck of Tokyo Skytree® and an AI processing server. We analyzed
signage trial using ultra-low-power reflective displays, four tiled
the video from the wide-area camera to recognize vehicles driving
reflective displays were installed outdoors, and 4K video content
on highways, areas of congestion potentially caused by traffic
simulating advertising was sequentially transmitted
to them from a base station and displayed. This trial ■ Figure 2: Trials at Tokyo Skytree Town
confirmed that the content could be reproduced in
outdoor light without loss of image quality, and withgood contrast, and color reproduction. In a trial of video
transmission in an indoor environment modeled after acommercial facility, 5G ultra-high-density distributed
antennas were deployed, transmitting 4K HD video
to a mobile terminal, with several pedestrians walking
around the terminal. This trial confirmed that stabletransmission of video was possible, even when entering
tenants having complex premises.

4. 5G field trials in the smart city area
We conducted a trial of a new security model for
urban spaces needed in smart cities, toward realizationof advanced security services that can handle crimes thatcurrent preventative measures cannot, such as crimes ofconviction (terrorism, random attacks, child predation,etc.). The trial used HD video, AI, and 5G to capture
predictors of crime so they can be prevented before theyoccur (Figure 3).

4

New Breeze Autumn 2018

■ Figure 3: T rials of security in facility and urban spaces■ Figure 4: Trials of remote medical examinations

accidents, fires and other phenomena. The results showed thatthe ability to distinguish distant objects was clearly superior whenusing the relatively higher-resolution video transmittable using
5G, compared with 4G.

5. 5G field trials in the medical area
We conducted a trial of an advanced remote medical
examination service, providing improved medical examinations
in rural and mountainous areas, comparable to those available inurban general hospitals (Figure 5). We connected the Wakayama
Medical University Community Medical Support Center(Wakayama City) and the Japan National Health Insurance
Kawakami Clinic (Hidakagawa Town, Wakayama Prefecture)by network including 5G. We then introduced capabilities totransmit video from a 4K high-definition close-up camera used for
diagnosis of conditions of the skin, dental/oral, and other external
injury, and from other equipment used for internal examinations,such as ultrasonic imaging (echograms), and also a 4K highdefinition video conferencing system for medical interviews andconsultations between doctors.
In February 2018, we conducted a trial following the medical
treatment of patients for five cases (three dermatology, one plastic
surgery, and one cardiology case). Impressions from the doctors
and patients participating in this trial are described below.

5.1 Doctor impressions
・ Using the 4K camera capabilities and ability to examine
closely, I was able to see the external trauma well andperform the examination, which was not possibleusing earlier video conferencing systems. Wonderful!
(Dermatologist).
・ The 4K video was clear and of quality in no way inferior
to the images when using the echogram directly. I lookforward to using it to improve medical treatment inregional communities (Cardiologist).
・ The feeling that specialists can be present immediately isreassuring. This should be very effective in improving care
at clinics, and especially as an educational tool for young
doctors. (Clinic doctor).
5.2 Patient impressions・ With the doctor from the Medical University on thelarge screen, I was able to receive the medical examination
exactly as if I was there as an outpatient.
・ This time, I used this remote medical examination to geta second opinion. I had the examination through a screenthat gave a strong sense of presence, and received excellent
findings and new treatment methods as I would expectfrom a specialist at the general hospital. It was a real eyeopener!

New Breeze Autumn 20185

Verification Trials of 5G Communications in High-speed
Mobile Environments

Masanori Ichinose

Director
Solution Services
NTT Communications Corporation

1. Introduction
The Fifth Generation Mobile Communications System (5G)
will provide across-the-board enhancements—unrivaled capacity,
ultra-high speed, multiple simultaneous connections, ultra-reliable
and low latency—and should lead to early implementation of an
ICT infrastructure supporting the IoT era and sustained growthof Japan’s economy for years to come. With a planned rollout of
5G slated for 2020, R&D supporting 5G wireless access and othertechnologies, and Field Trials for new 5G services are well underway.
This article provides an overview of Field Trials recently
conducted by NT T Communications (NT T Com) incollaboration with NTT DOCOMO to assess technical andoperating conditions of a 5G mobile communication systemcapable of supporting high-speed 2Gb/s Gbps throughput for
high-speed public transportation. The system is designed toprovide entertainment for passengers when traveling on fastmoving trains and motor vehicles.

2. 5G wireless transmission characteristics inhigh-speed mobile environments exceeding
90 km/hTwo trials were conducted to assess the transmission
performance of 5G wireless access for motor vehicles (cars andbusses) running on highways and for conventional trains operating

Ichiro Nakagawa

Senior Manager
Solution Services
NTT Communications Corporation

at high speed: the vehicle transmission trials were carried out
at Fuji Speedway while the railway transmission trials wereconducted on the Tobu Railway Nikko Line.
2.1 Vehicle transmission trials at Fuji Speedway
The vehicle trials were conducted on February 7-9, 2018 atFuji Speedway (in Shizuoka Prefecture) by constructing a 5G
transmission zone near the grand stand and transmitting 5G
wireless content to vehicles driving around the track at high speed(Figure 1).
The base station was set up near the grandstand along thehome straight with a 45° angle of orientation to the course, andthe mobile station was mounted on the roof of the test vehicles.
Specifications of the transmitter were as follows: center frequencyof 27.875 GHz, bandwidth of 700 MHz, and number of antenna
elements (base station: 96, mobile station: 64). Through thesetrials, we were able to verify a maximum throughput of 2.24 Gbps
at vehicle speeds above 90 km/h.
2.2 Train transmission trials on Tobu Railway Nikko LineThe train trials were done in collaboration with Tobu Railway
on February 19-23, 2018. For the purpose of these trials, 5Gtransmission zones was deployed near Ienaka Station and Niregi
Station along the Tobu Nikko Line, and 5G wireless content
was transmitted to the Sky Tree Train, EMU 634 (a sightseeing■ Figure 1: Wireless transmission trials for high-speed vehicles at Fuji Speedway

6

New Breeze Autumn 2018

■ Figure 2: Wireless transmission trials for high-speed trains on Tobu Railway Nikko Line■ Figure 3: Overview of entertainment delivery trial

train operated by Tobu Railways) that was traveling at high speed(Figure 2).
The equipment was set up so we could assess handover
performance of 5G transmissions: the base stations were under
the control of the core network near Ienaka Station, with basestation base band unit 1 deployed at the north end of the platform
and base station base band unit 2 set up in a vacant lot southof the station. Two antenna units were connected to each basestation base band unit to provide transmission diversity. The
antenna was attached to the mobile station in such a way that itwas visible through the front windshield of the train crew cabin.
Specifications of the transmitting equipment were as follows:
center frequency of 27.875 GHz, bandwidth of 700 MHz, andnumber of antenna elements (base station: 96, mobile station: 64).
Based on the trials, we were able to verify a maximum throughput
of 2.08 Gbps when the train was moving at a speed of 90 km/h.
We also confirmed that the handover occurred seamlessly without
issue.
The two antenna units subordinate to the base stationbase band unit installed near Niregi Station were deployed ina distributed configuration. Specifications of the transmitting
equipment were as follows: center frequency of 27.900 GHz,
bandwidth of 730.5 MHz, and number of antenna elements(base station: 128 × 2 unit, mobile station: 8). To make sure themobile station was within direct line-of-sight of the base stationtransmission point inside the train car, the antenna was mounted
on the front windshield in front of the driver’s seat shieldedby a sheet of clear acrylic. Here again we verified a maximum
throughput of 2.90 Gbps when the train was traveling at 90 km/h.

3. Entertainment field trials
Riding long distances on public transportation can takeconsiderable time, and this of course increases the demand for everfaster travel speeds. Providing passengers with entertainment in
the form of high-definition video services while traveling is also
exceedingly important, for it helps passengers pass the time whilein transit. These considerations led us to carry out these trials totest and evaluate 5G high-definition video services for passengers
riding on trains and busses and taxies operated by passenger
automobile transport businesses at speeds in excess of 90 km/h
(Figure 3).
We might assume that the most basic 5G services soughtby train and car service passengers will be Internet connectivity
services. But the goal of these trials was to assess and visualize
services that exploit 5G capabilities, so we focused on highdefinition video services for passengers traveling at high speed
on various modes of public transportation. Compared to legacytransmission services, delivering high-definition video topassengers in trains and vehicles offers significant advantages,
most notably the very high capacity of 5G transmission. We can

New Breeze Autumn 20187

■ Figure 4: Hybrid video distribution service

high-speed communication in the 28-GHz band for vehicles andanticipate that this larger capacity will provide sharper higher
trains moving at 90 km/h. In the vehicle transmission trials at
definition video, a greater range of channels, and instantaneous
Fuji Speedway and the train transmission trials on Tobu Railway
live feeds and other information delivery services.
Nikko Line we demonstrated that very high throughputs in excess
There are two types of video distribution services—linearof 2 Gbps were feasible at speeds of 90 km/h.
distribution (program organization) services and on-demandThis abilit y to deliver ver y-high-speed Gbps-class
distribution services—but for these trials we deployed very few
communications in high-speed mobile environments will open
base stations and the communication time was exceedingly
the way to many new 5G entertainment services tailored for public
limited. So for our purposes, we adopted a hybrid compromisetransportation including the delivery of breaking news clips of thetype distribution service so we could assess both the instantaneous
2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games to passengers while
nature of the linear distribution service, and the convenience of thetravelling on Japan’s high-speed trains.
on-demand distribution service (Figure 4).
We installed a video distribution server (master server) on
the base station side and a cache server between passenger user
terminals inside the train, then split the network into
■ Figure 5: H igh-definition video trials for high-speed trains on Tobu
two sub-networks: an inter-server network between
Railway Nikko Linethe master server and the cache server, and an enduser network between the cache server and the user
terminals. With this architecture, even if the cache server
cannot exploit G5 communication to add and update
content added or updated on the master server by the
carrier, content on the cache server can be appropriately
updated later using 5G communications to deliver almost
instantaneous services very similar to live streaming tousers.
Using this system, we conducted trials on February
19-23, 2018 by downloading multiple 4K/8K video
files within the 5G transmission zone near Ienaka
Station on the Tobu Railway (Figure 5). During the
21 seconds it took for the train to pass through the
5G transmission zone, a total of 1.2 GB of 4K/8K
video data was transmitted over the system which wereshown on a 4K display and on a 17-inch 8K display set
up in the train for the experiment. By providing veryhigh-speed Gbps-class communications in high-speed
mobile environments, this will make it possible to deliver
breaking news and other high-definition video clips in atimely manner to passengers riding on high-speed trains.

4. Conclusions
In these trials we evaluated the performance of 5G

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New Breeze Autumn 2018

5G Trial Overview (FY2017)
Connected cars, Construction Equipment Remote Operation,
Transmission of High Resolution Video from Drones
Akira Matsunaga

Senior Director
Mobile Network Technical Development Division
KDDI CORPORATION

Satoshi Nakano

Assistant Manager
Next Generation Network Development Department
Mobile Network Technical Development Division
KDDI CORPORATION

1 Introduction

3 Assumed use cases and test details

In preparation for implementation of 5th Generation mobile
communication systems (5G), the Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications (MIC) began 5G Trials in FY2017.
The authors, together with other collaborating organizations,participated in a group conducting trials of applications using
5G low-latency communication, measuring radio propagation
characteristics and evaluating performance of 5G, generally andin applications, using the 4.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands in urban
and suburban areas. This article reports on the results of these
activities.

The assumed use cases and test details are described below.
3.1 Connected car (Figure 1)
In the use case studied, a server application receiving
instructions from an operator instructs the on-board camera ina vehicle travelling below 60 km/h to record images of a moving
object. This application requires a low-latency transmission
channel to minimize the time between when the operator issues
the instruction and when video capture begins, to minimizechanges in relative positions of the camera and subject duringthat time. Tests of transmission from the vehicle were conductedduring FY2017.

2 Sample applications, locations, andfrequencies used in trials
Trials with three applications: Connected car, ICT
Construction, and Drone aerial photography; were conducted asshown in Table 1.
■ Table 1: Sample applications
Sampleapplications

Connected car

ICT Construction
Drone aerial
photography

Environment

Demonstration
location

Frequency

Urban
SuburbanTokyo
Aichi Prefecture

4.5 GHz28 GHz

Urban

Tokyo
Kanagawa Prefecture

28 GHzSuburban

Saitama Prefecture

28 GHz3.2 ICT Construction (Figure 2)
Due to the demand for rapid recovery after severe naturalor other disasters and the need to rebuild social infrastructure,and considering the social issue of declining numbers of skilledlaborers, there is increasing anticipation placed on construction
robots and remote operation of equipment. In this application,
video captured by 4K 3D cameras installed on construction
equipment and multiple overhead HD cameras is transmittedusing 5G to a remote control room, where operators watch thevideo and operate the equipment remotely. Current remote control
systems use Wi-Fi, but the high capacity and low latency of 5G
makes use of high-resolution video possible and is expected toincrease efficiency of remote operation. In FY2017, field tests■ Figure 1: Connected car application

New Breeze Autumn 20189

■ Figure 2: ICT construction application

conducted in a simulated construction environment quantitatively
demonstrated the effectiveness of 5G by comparing remote control
through both Wi-Fi and 5G.
3.3 Drone photography (Figure 3)
The objective of this use case is to use 5G to transmit 4K videofrom a drone during an event or disaster. Preliminary studies,
evaluations, and selection of issues when using 4G were done in
FY2017.

4 Trial results
4.1 Connected car
Trials were conducted in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, andIchinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture (Figures 4, 5).
The results of 4.5 GHz transmission tests conducted in
Ichinomiya City are shown in Figure 6. The downlink throughput
using a bandwidth of 100 MHz and a 1:1 ratio for up and down-

link time intervals was almost 300 Mbps. In the environmental
conditions for these tests, the median value for one-way delay on
the radio segment was 0.935 ms, which is less that the 1 ms target
value.
The results of 28 GHz measurements are shown in
Figure 7. The median delay value was 0.915 ms, confirming
low latency communication similar to the 4.5 GHz case. A
comparison of the 4.5 GHz and 28 GHz cases is shown in
Figure 8. In the driving routes shown in Figure 9, the Section 2
driving area is the same for both bands. The sections indicatedin red in Figure 8 show that 4.5 GHz is more resistant todegradation of throughput due to the environment.
4.2 ICT Construction
To compare working efficiency when using Wi-Fi and 5G, thetime required to stack three blocks was measured using various
systems. (See Figures 10, 11, and 12)■ Figure 3: Drone aerial photography application■ Figure 4: Test area in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo

10

New Breeze Autumn 2018

■ Figure 5: Test area in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture■ Figure 6: 4.5 GHz transmission test results(Ichinomiya area)■ Figure 7: 28 GHz transmission test results(Ichinomiya area)■ Figure 8: C omparison of 4.5 GHz and 28 GHz(Shinjuku area)■ Figure 9: Driving routes■ Figure 10: B lock stacking test
overview■ Figure 11: B lock stacking test
photograph■ Figure 12: Machinery configurations

New Breeze Autumn 201811

■ Figure 13: B lock stacking test results■ Figure 14: Drone aerial photography test configuration

Configurations using the conventional method (Wi-Fi)
and 5G are shown in Figure 12. To reduce differences between
the environments, the number of cameras and distance to theremote control room was the same. The conventional system used
2K video, while the 5G system used naked-eye 3D 4K video,
comparing based on image quality. The remote control systemused Specified Low-power Radio.
In the experiments, the same operator alternated between the
two test environments and compared them with consideration for
how work time decreased as they gained practice. Assuming an
exponential approximation, the expected time for an experienced
user would be 276 s on the Wi-Fi system, and 177 s on the 5G
system, reducing work time by a third (Figure 13).

12

New Breeze Autumn 2018

4.3 Drone aerial photography
As shown in Figure 14, video captured with 4K and 720p
cameras mounted on a drone was transmitted to a server using
a 4G terminal mounted on the drone, and the transmission
delay and throughput were measured. 4K video resulted in delayof approximately 30 s, confirming that transmission would be
difficult using 4G.

5 Conclusion
This article has described 5G performance evaluations forapplication use cases in 5G trials conducted by the MIC.

Trials of 5th Generation Mobile Communication Systems in
Indoor Environments

Masaya Yamada

Assistant Director
Adaptive Communications research Laboratories
Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR)

Nobuo Suzuki

Head
Dept. of Broadband Wireless Communications, Adaptive Communications research Laboratories
Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR)

Hiroyuki Yokoyama

Director
Adaptive Communications research Laboratories
Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR)■ Figure 1: Stadium application concept

1. Introduction
In anticipation of the realization of 5th generation (5G) mobile
communication systems and new markets created using them, theMinistry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) began
conducting 5G system trials starting in FY2017. In these trials,
the communications industry providing 5G and various otherindustries that will use 5G have cooperated, conducting tests in
six groups to ensure that the many and diverse applications andfeatures of 5G (high speed, many-connections, very low latency)
are all covered.
The authors participated in the fourth group (G IV),
collaborating with other agencies in 5G testing related to ultrahigh speed communication in indoor and enclosed environments.
This article reports on performance tests of 5G radio propagation
characteristics using the 28 GHz band and with 5G applications.

2. Evaluation test locations
The following three types of environment were selected forevaluation in indoor and enclosed environments.
Environment
Stadium

Location
Okinawa Cellular Stadium Naha

Region(2) Train station
To ensure much greater safety and security in train stations,a system is being studied, which transmits 4K or other highdefinition video using 5G features, processes it with an image
analysis application to detect dangerous articles or behavior thatneeds attention, and deals with it quickly and effectively. In
FY2017, preliminary studies and evaluation were done on thebasic performance of an image analysis application for highdefinition video (2K and 4K class).
■ Figure 2: Train station application concept

Naha City, Okinawa
Prefecture

Inside train station Keikyu Railway, Haneda Airport Ota Ward, Tokyo
SchoolInternational Terminal Station

Maehara Elementary School

Koganei City, Tokyo

3. Application concepts and evaluation details
In these tests, 5G performance was evaluated in anticipateduse cases for various services and applications. The application
concepts at each of the test locations are described below.
(1) Stadium
Distribution of free-viewpoint video is being studied as
an application to develop entertainment in a stadium further,utilizing the ultra-high-speed and high capacity of 5G. In
FY2017, 28 GHz reception characteristics at spectator seats ina stadium were studied, and multiplexed high-resolution video
distribution tests were conducted.

(3) School
Use cases requiring the high-speed and high-capacity of 5G
are being studied as applications that can stimulate classroom
activity in an elementary school, such as simultaneously accessing
high-volume content using multiple terminals. In FY2017,preliminary studies and evaluations were done, examining theperformance of simultaneous access to high-volume content using
existing 4G networks.

New Breeze Autumn 201813

■ Figure 7: D etection performance of high-resolution
image analysis application■ Figure 3: S chool application concept

detection rate [%]distance

4. Test results(1) Stadium
The reception characteristics in the spectator seating at Okinawa Cellular Stadium were studied when transmitting in the
28 GHz band from the lighting tower near the third-base side.
28 GHz band propaga■ Figure 4: Map of propagation
tion losses at spectator
losses in the stadiumseats in the stadium were
measured as shown in
Figure 4, generally demonstrating good reception
conditions.
T hen, antennas
transmitting 28 GHz
band 5G signals were
mounted on the thirdbase side lighting tower(Figure 5), and 25 5G terminals each were positioned in the
spectator seats on both the first-base and third-base sides. Highdefinition video (2K and 4K class video) was distributed simultaneously from the transmitter, and all 50 5G terminals were able toreceive the video normally (Figure 6).
■ Figure 5: V iew of stadium and transmitter antenna
location
5G
Transmitter
antenna(3) School
In FY2017, to study the requirements for accessing highvolume content simultaneously from many terminals in anelementary school, we evaluated the performance of tasks suchas simultaneously uploading large content using multiple 4G
terminals.

■ Figure 8: P erformance evaluation system using 4G

In the performance tests, two classes of grade four students (36children/class) uploaded video and watched streaming video all at
once. As shown in Figure 9, up to 45 minutes was needed to upload a video. In separate ■ Figure 9: Distribution of timerequired for video
discussion with the eleupload (using 4G)
mentary school teachers,
they stated that ability
to upload videos within
one minute during classwould be desirable, so
there is a clear need forthe high-speed, highcapacity transmission
capabilities of 5G.

5. Conclusion■ Figure 6: High definition video reception tests using
5G terminals(2) Train station
In FY2017, the basic system for an application to detect people
by analyzing 2K and 4K-class high-definition video was built andevaluated. The evaluations compared performance in detecting
people when using 2K class and 4K class video. As shown in
Figure 7, people could be detected at approximately twice thedistance when analyzing 4K class video, relative to 2K class video,
demonstrating the utility of high-speed 5G transmission and its
ability to transmit 4K class high-definition video.

14

New Breeze Autumn 2018

This article describes performance evaluation tests conductedin FY2017 using applications anticipated to utilize the ultra-highspeed characteristics of 5G in the 28 GHz band, for indoor andenclosed environments. We plan to conduct further tests with 5G
in train stations and schools in the future.
Acknowledgements
These tests were conducted through a technical examination
service by MIC in FY2017 called “Contract of a service to study
technical requirements for 5th generation mobile communication
over 10 Gbps in indoor environments”
References[1]M IC, “5G Integration Testing Begins”, http://w w w.soumu.go.jp/menu _news/snews/01kiban14_02000297.html, May 2017.
[2]O kumura et al., “System Trials toward Actualization of 5th Generation Mobile
Communication System 5G,” MWE2017 Draft proceedings, 2017[3]Yamada et al., “Trials of 5th Generation Mobile Communication Systems in Indoor
Environments”, Proc. IEICE 2018 General Conference.

5G Overall System Trial— An application of 5G Ultra-Low-Latency Communication
to Truck Platooning —Hitoshi Yoshino

Advanced Technology
Research Department
SoftBank Corporation

Ryo Yamaguchi

Advanced Technology
Research Department
SoftBank Corporation

1. Introduction

Manabu Mikami

Advanced Technology
Research Department
SoftBank Corporation

Research and development is under way toward thecommercialization of 5th generation mobile communication
systems (5G) in 2020. In addition to extending the capabilities of
4G networks with enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), 5G will
provide capabilities in the new domains of Ultra Reliable and Low
Latency Communication (URLLC) and massive Machine Type
Communication (m-MTC), and is highly anticipated as social
infrastructure for our advanced information society. URLLC andm-MTC in particular have potential for developing new markets,and establishing concrete 5G applications for these is an urgent
matter.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC)
began 5G system trials in Japan in FY2017[1]. These trials request
evaluation of 5G wireless system technologies for commercial use,
as well as trials of 5G in collaboration with other vertical sectors,
meaning use of 5G in sectors other than mobile communications.
The trials discussed here belong to the 5G URLLC test
group (Group V, or GV) led by SoftBank, and deal with a use
case applying 5G to truck platooning. This article reports on these
activities in GV.

technology and maintains a safe separation between vehicles
according to their cruising speed. ACC has been implemented
and many vehicles are already equipped with it. However, whencontrolling based only on the measured distance between vehicles,
there is a significant delay between when the lead truck begins
to slow down and when the following distance changes. There isfurther delay until the following truck begins to slow down. For
this reason, if only ACC is used, a longer following distance must
be maintained to prevent collisions.
On the other hand, Cooperative ACC (CACC) controls
speed based on speed and acceleration information sent from thelead truck to the following truck by inter-vehicle communication,
which can greatly improve control of the following distance when
the lead truck needs to brake suddenly. This also enables stable
operation with less fluctuation in following distance (hunting
oscillation) due to control delay. Fuel consumption can be further
reduced and traffic capacity of roads increased while maintaining
safety by further reducing the following distance and increasing
the number of platooned trucks, so using 5G URLLC, which
realizes low latency and high reliability, in this field is very
promising.

2. Application of 5G to truck platooning

3. Trial description

Truck platooning involves multiple trucks driving together
in a convoy. The truck platoon is controlled as a unit by using
inter-vehicle communication. Development to implement truck
platooning is currently underway in several countries around theworld.
Several social issues can be resolved through use of truck
platooning. Platooning can enable trucks to drive closer together
to reduce wind resistance, which can reduce fuel consumption
and reduce CO2 emissions. It has been shown that a platoon of
three trucks travelling 4 m apart at 80 km/h consume 15% lessfuel[2]. If the distance between trucks is reduced to 2 m, the fuelconsumption would be reduced by 25%. Reducing the distance
between vehicles can also increase the traffic capacity of roads,
mitigating congestion. This could further reduce CO2 emissions.
In Japan, an aging driver population and driver overwork are alsosocial issues, so truck platooning can reduce the burden on drivers
and increase safety.
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) measures the distance
between a lead vehicle and following vehicle using radar or otherIn the GV trials, the ultra-low latency radio capabilities
of 5G were used in the transport field for two use cases: (1)Communication between vehicles involved in platooning, and(2) Remote monitoring and operation of the entire truck platoon.
These use cases are shown in Figures 1 and 2.
There are two main communication requirements for theseuse cases. The first is low-volume, low-latency communicationneeded for the vehicle control systems (speed, acceleration,
vehicle positions, etc.). The other is high-volume, low latency
communication needed for the video monitoring system, tomonitor the whole platoon (monitoring the truck surroundings,etc.). The former must also be highly reliable.
Figure 3 shows the forms of communication for platooning,
including (1) Vehicle-to-Network-to-Vehicle communication(V2N2V), (2) direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V
Direct, Sidelink), and (3) vehicle-to-network communication(V2N). Communication with (1) above is between vehicles
through a base station, and can provide relatively stable and lowlatency communication with the help of the base station. With

New Breeze Autumn 201815

■ Figure 1: Use case 1: Inter-vehicle communication for truck platooning(Vehicle control and video monitoring around following truck)■ Figure 2: Use case 2: Remote monitoring, remote operation(Communication
between platooned trucks and remote operation control center)(2), there is a possibility that signals become blocked by other
4.7 GHz band was used in the tests, and the evaluation was done
vehicles coming between the platooned trucks, so it could becomein a test environment with vehicle-to-vehicle communication via
less reliable than (1), but it can achieve lower latency than (1).
base station. The tests were done assuming truck speeds up to 90
With (3), delays within the network dominate vehicle-to-network
km/h. An example of over-the-air latency measurement is shown
communication, but it is needed for remote monitoring andin Figure 5. It shows that at a speed of 87 km/h, the transmission
operation of the vehicles.
delay on the air was 0.58 ms.
In FY2017, application of 5G communication to self-drivingof following trucks in a platoon is being studied, so the basic(2) Throughput characteristics
performance of communication necessary for vehicle control andWhile platoon driving, the surroundings of the following vevideo monitoring of the surroundings of following truck was
hicles must be monitored at the lead truck for safety. The feasibilevaluated. Specifically, the communication types (1) and (2) above
ity of low-latency, high-volume communication for video monitorwere tested. The specifications of test equipment are■ Table 1: Test equipment specifications
shown in Table 1.

4. Trial results
A truck platoon driving environment using large
trucks was set up on the Tsukuba City test course toevaluate 5G communications equipment (Figure 4).
(1) Latency characteristics
The latency characteristics of 5G communicationequipment were measured in tests, with consideration
for use in vehicle control for platoon driving. The

16

New Breeze Autumn 2018

■ Figure 3: F orms of communication for platooning■ Figure 4: Real truck platooning test

■ Figure 5: V 2N low latency communication performance
assuming vehicle remote monitoring andcontrol (4.7 GHz band)■ Figure 6: Throughput characteristics (28 GHz band)ing was tested. The test environment involved vehicle-to-vehicle
direct communication with vehicles separated by approximately
10 m. The 28 GHz band was used to ensure wide bandwidth.
Figure 6 shows the relationship between distance traveled andthroughput. The figure shows that throughput of approximately 2
Gbps was achieved. This shows that video transmission is possible
without increasing the delay due to video encoding, thanks to suchhigh throughput.

5. Conclusion
We conducted basic performance evaluations applying 5G totruck platooning on a real test course. We studied two cases ofcommunication: low-volume, low-latency communication needed
for platooning (for truck control), and high-volume, low-latency
communication (for monitoring the following vehicles). The
test results confirmed that the communication requirements foradvanced truck platooning were met.
In the future, we will conduct integration testing for aplatooning control system as well as testing to ensure reliability.
References[1] Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “5G System Trial Begin,” Press Release,
http://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_news/s-news/01kiban14_02000297.html, May 2017.
[2] K. Aoki, “Current Activities of Development on the Automated Truck Platoon,” pp.303-309,
IPSJ Journal, Vol.54 No.4, Apr. 2013.

New Breeze Autumn 201817

Demonstration of Disaster-proof Warehouse and Smart
Office Applications Using the Multiple Simultaneous
Connectivity of 5G
Kentaro Ishizu, Homare Murakami, Hirokazu Sawada, Kazuo Ibuka,
Takashi Matsuda, Fumihide Kojima

Wireless Networks Research Center,
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

1. Introduction
One of the advantages of the 5th generation (5G) mobile
communication system is the ability to achieve a significantly
larger number of simultaneous connections. In the IoT (Internetof Things) era, the number of mobile connected things will
increase and all sorts of things will be connected to the Internet.
Mobile communication systems will therefore have to provide asocial infrastructure that achieves larger numbers of simultaneousconnections.
It is expected that the simultaneous connection capabilities of
5G will allow it to accommodate a million terminals per square
kilometer[1]. This goal needs to be evaluated together with realistic
assumed applications in order to clarify the usage scenarios thatcan be implemented with 5G. Therefore, in this article we reporton the results of demonstrations based on two different use
cases: the use of 5G in disaster-proof warehouses during disastersituations, and the use of 5G in smart offices to support future
working styles [2].

2. Disaster-proof warehouse use caseIn a disaster, it is important to manage very large numbers ofresources and ascertain the circumstances of many people. The
purpose of a disaster-proof warehouse is to stockpile reserves innormal situations so they can be used or consumed in the eventof an emergency. However, considering the circumstances that
arose during disasters in recent years, it can be seen that it was notpossible to accurately ascertain the positions of warehouses with asurplus of goods and warehouses where problems had arisen due to■ Figure 1: Demonstration of a disaster-proof warehouse use case18

New Breeze Autumn 2018

■ Figure 2: Demonstration of a smart office use caseshortages. In addition, it may be unrealistic to expect that accurate
warehouse records will continue to be kept when accepting anddispensing aid during an emergency. Efforts are therefore being
made to implement a system whereby goods are labeled with RF
tags that can be scanned to generate information that is sent via
5G to a city hall or the like, where it can be centrally analyzed
to identify shortages and ensure that aid supplies are directed
to where they are most needed. Furthermore, wearable devices
that can measure the wearer’s position and vital signs would be
provided to people who need particular care, such as children,
the elderly and infirm. This information can be collected via 5G
and used to request the assistance of doctors or volunteers whenabnormal values are detected (Figure 1).
The wireless communication needed to implement this system
is realized using a Grant-Free system that is being studied for5G [3,4]. In conventional communication systems like LTE, acommunication channel must be established before any data
communication starts. This process places a heavy load on thecommunication system, and gives rise to limitations on thenumber of terminals that can be connected. However, in the
Grant-Free system, data can be transmitted straight away without
having to set up a communication channel. This system is suitable
for situations where small quantities of data such as sensor outputs
are sporadically transmitted from large numbers of terminals.
For this demonstration, we developed a prototype device that
implements this method. We also developed a test device
capable of simulating 20,000 terminals and generating wirelesscommunication connections in the same way. By combining thesedevices, we constructed a demonstration environment where up
to 20,000 terminals are transmitting signals in the Grant-Freesystem while transmitting information from wearable devices to abase station.
For this demonstration, we used a wireless system with abandwidth of 10 MHz, with each terminal transmitting
information at five second intervals. The base station regards
a terminal as having communicated successfully if it receives
information within ten seconds. The results of this test confirmedthat the 5G system is capable of receiving data from all 20,000
terminals in 70 seconds when the terminals are set up to transmit
data every 5 seconds. We also confirmed that in an environment
with 20,000 wireless terminals, it is still possible for the server
management screen to produce a graphical display of stock tag
information and pulse information from wearable terminals.

3. Smart office use caseIn the future it is expected f lexible work patterns will
become more commonplace, increasing the demand for officeenvironments that are customized to individual needs. People
also expect to have greater opportunities to work efficiently inremote businesses anywhere using a nearby shared office. We will
therefore implement smart office environments by developing
office tools that combine not only the multiple simultaneousconnection capabilities of 5G, but also other desirable performance
attributes such as ultra-high speed and ultra-low latency(Figure 2).
As examples of tools, the smart table incorporates a planar

New Breeze Autumn 201819

antenna in the desktop for near-field communication, and isconnected to a base station operating in the 3.7 GHz band.
For this demonstration, we used an LTE base station with abandwidth of 20 MHz, and we aimed to conduct an evaluationin terms of the system configuration and radio wave interference.
This planar antenna only allows terminals to communicate when
they are on the desk, and suppresses radio wave interference tothe space further away from the desktop surface. Therefore, even
if there are several smart tables installed in the same conference
room, they can use radio waves of the same frequency bandwithout causing interference between desks. This facilitateseffective use of frequency resources, and makes it possible toachieve a large overall network communication capacity. Video
from an omnidirectional camera and audio from a microphonecapable of estimating direction of audio sources are communicatedby smart tables to a server, which automatically creates the minutesof the meeting by recognizing what is being said and by who.
In addition, when the system estimates that the discussion has
stalled (e.g., at a break in the conversation), the system searches for
current news relating to keywords extracted from the most recent
spoken content, and displays it on a large-sized wall-mounted
display to contribute ideas for brainstorming.
The smart chair has six pressure sensors on the seat andback panel. Information from these sensors is transmitted to theserver via multiple simultaneous connections so that the postureof the person sitting on the chair can be identified (e.g., leaning
forward, leaning back, or shifted to one side). In the future, bygathering information from every chair in the room, the system
could recommend breaks or control the air conditioning to prevent
fatigue and drowsiness among the conference participants. In thisdemonstration, these chair pressure sensors are powered entirelyby photovoltaic panels installed on the rear side, so there is no needto replace batteries. Other forms of chair sensor that are being
developed can detect a person’s heart rate and/or breathing whena person simply sits down, and in the future this can be expected
to be used for health management and fine-grained control of theoffice environment. Since the 5G wireless system for chairs is stillon the drawing board, we used existing Bluetooth Low Energy
equipment for connections of wireless sensors.
The electronic whiteboard uses ultra-low latenc ycommunication in the 28 GHz band to provide a real-time displaythat updates in synchronization with other whiteboards at remotelocations. Most current videoconferencing systems share only
video and audio signals, but by also sharing the pen strokes
drawn on a whiteboard in real time, it is possible to share thesame whiteboard between multiple conference rooms, resulting
in greater work efficiency and smoother discussions. Here, thewriting on the electronic whiteboard from multiple locations
is managed by a 5G edge server directly connected to the basestation. This not only reduces the radio access latency, but can also
reduce the latency in higher layers.

4. Summary
We have presented the results of a demonstration to examine
the performance of 5G simultaneous multiple connections in
two usage scenarios. This demonstration confirmed that it ispossible to improve the terminal connectivity required in disaster20

New Breeze Autumn 2018

situations, and to develop a new office environment. The function
and performance of 5G are being strongly led from the viewpointof services, and we hope that the results of this verification will
be useful for future 5G applications and 3GPP standard reviews.
In addition, we are studying methods for distributed micro-cell
technologies in mobile communication systems [5], and we expect
this can be effectively applied to smart offices where there islimited communication range.
Acknowledgments
This study was commissioned by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications as part of an initiative to investigate
the technical criteria of 5th generation mobile communication
systems where 20,000 devices at a single venue can communicate
simultaneously (FY2017). The disaster-proof warehousedemonstration was performed jointly with Softbank Corporation
and Abit Corporation, and the smart office demonstration was
performed jointly with Itoki Corporation and Sharp Corporation.
References[1] Recommendation ITU-R M.2083-0, “IMT Vision — Framework and overall objectives of the
future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond,” Sep. 2015.
[2] N ICT press release, “Simultaneous connection of 20,000 terminals confirmed in 5G
verification test — Demonstration of effectiveness in disaster-proof warehouse and smart
office use cases”, March 2018. http://www.nict.go.jp/press/2018/03/29-1.html.
[3] 3GPP R1-166403,”Grant-free Multiple Access Schemes for mMTC”.
[4] 3GPP R1-1609398,”Uplink grant-free access for 5G mMTC”.
[5] Ishizu et al., “A study of base station sharing methods for 5th generation mobile
communication systems”, IEICE Technical Reports, Vol. 117, no. 246, RCS2017-182, pp.
81–86, October 2017.

Cover Art
Onoe Kikugoro(Picture of kabuki actor
Onoe Kikugoro III.
It is said that heis playing the role of
Ushiwakamaru (1838).)

Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865)
Collection of the Art Research Center(ARC)
Ritsumeikan University
Object number: arcUY0215

Smoothing the Transition from the Fixed Telephone Network
to the IP Network
Takayoshi Kagei

Deputy Director
Telecommunications Policy Division, Telecommunications Business Department
Telecommunications Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication

1. Introduction
In November 2015, due to declining numbers of subscriber
telephone contracts and the expectation that transit exchanges
and other such systems will reach their maintenance limits in or
around 2025, we announced our intention to migrate from a public
switched telephone network (PSTN*1) to an IP network. Under
NTT’s vision:• The core network (relay network) parts will be migrated to
IP networks (NGN*2) operated by NTT East and NTTWest.
• The access lines leading to user premises will continue to use
existing metal lines after the transition to IP networks, andexisting subscriber exchange equipment will be used as accesspoints for metal lines.
• While allowing users to continue using their existing phones,
we will also put forward the idea of providing new metal IP
phones.
Since the fixed communication networks of NTT East and
NTT West form Japan’s basic communication infrastructure,
we are obliged to follow the various systems currently prescribedby the Telecommunications Business Act. For this reason,

we consulted with the Information and Communications
Council in February 2016 on the subject of how to achieve asmooth transition in fixed telephone networks. Following thisconsultation, discussions were held at the Smooth Telephone
Network Transition Committee*3 across a wide range of issues
while conducting interviews with service providers and relatedorganizations. This committee compiled two reports, which were
published in March 2017 (“The post-transition IP network”) and
September 2017 (“Planning for a smooth transition”).
Based on these council reports, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications is developing a system to realize
a smooth transition to the IP network of the fixed telephone
network.
This article presents an overview of the main points of thesereports and the systems and facilities that will be affected, with aparticular focus on efforts related to the migration of facilities.

2. Key points of the Information andCommunications Council report
2.1 Basic philosophy concerning fixed telephones
In recent years, the number of metal phone (subscriber phone
and ISDN) subscribers*4 has been on a downward trend, but if■ Figure 1: Transition of fixed telephone network to IP network＊1: P ublic Switched Telephone Network.
＊2: N ext Generation Network.
＊3: T he committee is chaired by professor Hirotaka Yamauchi of the Graduate School of Commerce at Hitotsubashi University. This committee set up two working groups — one to study
telephone connection functions (headed by Professor Hitoshi Aida of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering), and another to study user protection (headed by Yoshinori Sakai
Professor Emeritus of Tokyo Institute of Technology and Associate Professor at the Open University of Japan) — and also conducted technical and special investigations.
＊4: N umber of subscriber phone contracts (including ISDN): 21.14 million (as of March 2017).

New Breeze Autumn 201821

■ Figure 2: Current status of fixed telephones (number of contracts and charges)

these are added to the growing number of IP phone (0AB–J IP
phone) subscribers,*5 then the total number of fixed telephone
subscribers in Japan is still over 55 million.
Today, a wide variety of means of communication are in anadvanced state of use, including mobile phones and broadband.
However, the fixed telephone network is available in every partof the country and provides a basic means of communication
to people’s homes, businesses, public buildings and the like,and therefore plays an important role as part of the essential
infrastructure of social and economic activity. This important role
will remain unchanged even after migrating to an IP network.
Furthermore, once fixed telephone services have transitioned
over to an IP network, it will be possible to charge a low tariff *6
for calls of any distance within Japan while ensuring that thecommunication quality is at least as good as what is currently
available, and it is expected that a range of new services will also
be made available to users by exploiting the characteristics of IP
networks such as their ability to perform data communication as
well as voice communication.
Based on this idea, NTT East and NTT West will startoffering metal IP phones instead of ordinary metal phones. Like
existing subscriber telephones, these metal IP phones are expected
to provide a universal service, and we should aim to maintain thesame standards of quality and reliability that people expect ofexisting metal phones.
2.2 Ensuring the quality and reliability of fixed telephones
Under the current system, communications carriers are obliged■ Figure 3: Metal IP phone charges and quality/reliability

to ensure their facilities comply with technical standards so thatusers can be provided with reliable and stable telecommunications
services.
With the transition from PSTN to an IP network, NTT
East and NTT West will provide new metal IP phones by
incorporating metal lines into NGN as well as optical lines, andthe telephone networks of each communications carrier will
be reconfigured so that their respective IP networks will beinterconnected (IP-IP connection) without passing through the
NTT East/West exchange system.
To adapt to these changes, we must ensure that the IP network
is able to provide lifelines in emergency situations and a reliable
and stable supply of fixed telephones to support everyday socialand economic activities. It is therefore necessary to draw up
technical standards for communication equipment to ensure thatit can provide the same standard of quality and reliability as theexisting telephone network.

＊5: Number of 0AB–J IP phone contracts: 32.41 million (as of March 2017).
＊6: N TT has announced plans for a flat rate of ¥8.5 per 3 minutes for metal IP phone calls to anywhere in Japan after the IP network transition. Currently, three-minute daytime calls to subscriber
phones in NTT East and NTT West are charged according to distance: ¥8.5 for calls in the same city, ¥20–40 for calls in the same prefecture, and ¥20–80 for calls to a different prefecture.

22

New Breeze Autumn 2018

2.3 Ensuring the ability of phones to connect
In the existing PSTN, the NTT East/West exchange system
serves as a hub that connects between the telephone networks ofeach communications carrier at points of interface (POIs) in eachof Japan’s administrative divisions.
With the IP network transition, the NTT East/Westexchange system will be abolished, the POIs will be consolidated,
and in principle every communications carrier in Japan will
establish IP-IP connections with either of two “connecting POIs”,
one in Tokyo and the other in Osaka. It has been confirmed thatthey will be allowed to share communication facilities (routers and
SIP servers), which will require the implementation of new callconnection functions.
It is expected that the connecting POIs used for IP-IP
connections between communications carriers will have dual
support for connections via L2 switches*7 and without L2 switches(using a patch panel*8 instead).
In addition to sorting out the role of these phone connection
functions, their connection rules and technical standards, we arearranging a scheme*9 whereby NTT East/West will maintain,

manage and operate the communication facilities and L2 switches
used by communications carriers inside connecting POI buildings.
2.4 Ensuring emergency call capabilities
Currently, in emergency calls, the PSTN line hold function
ensures that calls from metal lines are held unless the emergency
service disconnects, even if the caller drops the handset. On theother hand, a callback from the emergency service is required
when reporting from a mobile phone.
Since it will be difficult to implement a line hold function after
the IP network transition, NTT has proposed replacing it with acallback function. However, the emergency services have raised
issues with the speed and reliability of existing callback functions,so NTT must adequately demonstrate how functions equivalent
to those of current systems can be offered, or provide suitable
alternatives.
To address this situation, the Smooth Telephone Network
Transition Committee interviewed representatives fromemergency services and business operators including NTT, andexamined the functions of emergency calls after the IP network■ Figure 4: Phone network configuration after the IP network transition■ Figure 5: Emergency call functions compatible with the IP network transition＊7:	A type of device that relays data on a network. Specifically, a switch that acts as a relay by forwarding packets to other relays based on the MAC addresses in the packet headers.
(Called a Layer 2 switch because MAC addresses are handled by the second layer (data link layer) of the OSI reference model.)＊8 :	A panel used for accommodating and connecting a group of communication lines. Capable of selecting signal paths easily without using dedicated switching equipment.
＊9:	For L2 switches inside connecting POI buildings, communications carriers (consortiums) that want to use them enter into an IRU (indefeasible right of use) contract with NTT East/
West, and NTT East/West maintains, manages and operates the L2 switches.

New Breeze Autumn 201823

transition. As a result, it was concluded that the alternative
functions for line holding should have the following properties:• To facilitate callbacks from the emergency services to callers,
it is realistic and rational to implement five functions: (a)emergency service number notification,*10 (b) cancellationof call transfers,*11 (c) cancellation of call barring,*12 (d)restrictions on three-way calling,*13 and (e) priority callhandling in the event of a disaster.*14• Based on the growing proportion of mobile phone usage
in emergency calls, it makes sense to ensure that these fivefunctions are also implemented for mobile phones.*15
2.5 H
 ow to manage the allocation of numbers totelecommunications lines(1) Converting the number allocation mechanism for IP network
migration (IP-IP connection)
In the current PSTN, when a telephone call is made to anumber allocated to a user by NTT East/West, the call control
signals from the caller’s device (a metal telephone, optical IP
phone, or mobile phone) must always be connected to the NTT
East/West exchange system via the PSTN to provide a redirection
mechanism whereby communication can take place with the calldestination. However, this mechanism cannot deal with cases

where connections between the telephone networks of each carrier
are formed by IP-IP connections without involving the PSTN.
In an IP-IP connection, when a call is made to a numberthat all the carriers associate with a particular user, the calling
equipment uses a signal corresponding to an IP address to retrieve
the number from a number database belonging to the calling
carrier. This number database must have a mechanism that
performs a process called number resolution to connect the callwith its destination (ENUM system*16).
For this reason, to support the phased introduction of
IP-IP connections from January 2021, there is a need for the
introduction of systems such as obliging all carriers that originate
and/or receive calls to set up a proper number database for number
management in IP-IP connections (including number resolution
by the ENUM system).
(2) Providing bidirectional number portability for fixed phones
In the current fixed phone system, number portability (theability to move telephone numbers) is only supported in “one way”
when migrating from an NTT East/West metal phone to a fixedphone of another carrier by signing up for a new contract, and is
not supported when migrating from an IP phone or from the fixedphone of another carrier besides NTT East/West.

■ Figure 6: Number management mechanism for IP-IP connections＊10:	Japan’s emergency services have so-called 1XY phone numbers (i.e., three digits starting with 1). This function reports the 1XY number of the corresponding emergency service backto the caller’s phone.
＊11:	A function that cancels the forwarding of incoming calls to a caller’s terminal, even if the caller is using a call forwarding function.
＊12:	A function that cancels the rejection of incoming calls to a caller’s terminal, even if the caller is using a call barring function.
＊13:	A function that temporarily restricts calls between the caller and any third party other than the emergency service.
＊14:	Currently, calls to the emergency services are handled with higher priority in the event of a disaster, but this priority treatment is not extended to calls made by the emergency
services back to the original callers.
＊15:	Since May 2017, with the aim of implementing these five functions in mobile phones, we have taken part in regular studies and discussions with a group of organizations including
the emergency services (police, fire and coastguard), three mobile communication companies (NTT DOCOMO, KDI and Softbank), and the Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications. A primary report detailing the results of these studies was reported to the Smooth Telephone Network Transition Committee on May 22, 2018.
＊16:	E.164 number mapping: a standard system that uses IP address query techniques to obtain information about the destinations to which phone numbers should be connected on theInternet.

24

New Breeze Autumn 2018

The proportion of numbers in the
fixed phone system (0AB–J) that cannot
have number portability has been on
an upward trend in recent years due
to progress in the IP transition, andis currently at 16%.*17 This figure is
expected to continue increasing in the
future.
Following the IP network transition,
all fixed-line users in the future will beusing IP phones. For the convenienceof these users, and in order to secure
a competitive infrastr uct ure for
fixed phones, we plan to introduce
bidirectional number portability by
the end of the IP network transition(January 2025). This will require somesystematic improvements.

■ Figure 7: Current status of number portability in fixed phones■ Figure 8: Principal forms of telecommunications number allocation and usage(3) Ensuring fair and efficient use of
number resources
Currently, the national allocation
rate of mobile phone numbers startingwith 090/080/070 and toll-free numbers
starting with 0120 (i.e., the proportionof all numbers that have been madeavailable) is in excess of 90%, and it is
becoming difficult to deal with newallocation requests.
On the other hand, the actual number allocation rate of communications
carriers (the proportion of available
numbers that are currently in use) is about 70% for mobile phones
and about 55% for toll-free numbers. At the national level, about
90% of available toll-free numbers have been assigned to a single
carrier.
Under these circumstances, the current system allows carriers
to voluntarily return numbers that have been allocated to them,regardless of whether or not these numbers are in use (voluntary
notification). As a result, numbers that have remained unused forlong periods of time are not being returned, leading to problems
such as inability to manage or redistribute numbers flexibly.
To adapt to the different situation regarding number
management brought about by the IP network transition (IP-IP
connection), it will be necessary to set up systems for dealing withthis shortage of numbers and the issues of unused numbers, andfor implementing the fair and efficient usage and redistribution offinite and scarce number resources. These include:• A mechanism for regularly confirming the state of useof telecommunications numbers and the discharge ofobligations related to telecommunications numbers• A mechanism that enables the disposal of numbers, such as
the cancellation of telecommunications numbers that havebeen left unused for a certain period, or the cancellation of

numbers when obligations relating to the handling of thesenumbers have not been not fulfilled
2.6 Road map for facility migration
The migration from PSTN to IP networks is to proceed
according to the following stages and schedule:• Stage 1: F ollowing preparator y work (development,
verification, etc.) by communications carriers,
establish a connecting POI building environmentfor IP-IP connections between carriers (by January
2021)• Stage 2: Connect the subscriber exchange systems of NTT
East/West to the IP network (NGN), and gradually
implement IP-IP connections between optical IP
phones and other carriers, and IP-IP connections
between other carriers (from January 2021 toJanuary 2024)• Stage 3: Implement IP-IP connections between NTT East/
West metal IP phones and other carriers (fromJanuary 2024 to the completion of transition in
January 2025)(Note: The migration of services from subscriber telephones to＊17:	As of March 2017, there are currently 9.97 million fixed phone numbers that do not have number portability. This constitutes 16% of all phone numbers (62.43 million), a proportion
that has been increasing in recent years.

New Breeze Autumn 201825

■ Figure 9: Migration of facilities from PSTN to the IP network■ Figure 10: Facility migration road map

metal IP phones (with a simultaneous exchange of contracts) was
conducted in January 2024)
To ensure that calls are handled properly during this transition
process, it is necessary to establish a telecommunications number
system and other such technical standards to ensure there is afunctioning number management mechanism that is compatible
with IP-IP connections.

3. System revisions to promote the smoothmigration of facilities (revision of theTelecommunications Business Act)
Based on a report by the Information and Communications
Council, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

has conducted a study of systematic measures. On March 6, 2018,a report on partial revision of the Telecommunications BusinessAct and the NICT Act was presented at the 186th Diet session,
and was established in law on May 16th and promulgated on May
23rd of the same year.*18
According to this law, from the perspective of promoting asmooth migration of facilities from PSTN to the IP network,
efforts are being made to switch to a mechanism where theresponsibility for number management is borne by all
carriers involved in the IP network transition, and to set up
telecommunications number systems that address the urgent
need for a larger pool of numbers to meet the needs of growth in
the mobile and IoT sectors. The points that were changed in the＊18:	The enforcement date of the Act is regarded as the day specified by a Cabinet Order within a period not exceeding one year from the date of promulgation.

26

New Breeze Autumn 2018

■ Figure 11: A mendment of the Telecommunications Business Act(improvement of rules relating to telecommunication numbers)

revised items were as follows:• T he Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
shall draw up and publish a telecommunications number
plan (hereinafter referred to as “number plan”) including thecontents of telecommunications duties to be provided foreach type of telecommunications number, the conditions forusing these numbers (handling important communications,
supporting bidirectional number portability, expiration
dates, etc.), and limits on how many numbers can be
specified.
• Communications carriers who intend to use telecommunications numbers for the provision of telecommunications
services must prepare a telecommunications number usage
plan (hereinafter referred to as a “usage plan”) and obtaincertification from the Minister for Internal Affairs andCommunications.
• T he Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications
shall examine the usage plans prepared by telecommunications carriers in terms of their suitability based on thenumber plan, etc., and shall allocate telecommunications
numbers after approving the usage plan.*19• Telecommunications carriers must use the telecommunications numbers designated by the Minister for Internal Affairs
and Communications in accordance with the usage plan
approved by the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. If a violation occurs and a communications carrier
fails to comply with a compliance order from the Minister forInternal Affairs and Communications, this carrier’s certification is liable to be revoked.

4. Conclusion
The NTT East/NTT West PSTN is a core communication
infrastructure that acts as a hub to support phone calls andprovides a competitive foundation for many businesses to develop
their activities. Users and businesses will therefore be significantly
affected by the form taken by the network after the IP networktransition, and by the way in which this transition is achieved.
For this reason, prompted by the announcement of NTT’svision, we have spent about two and a half years actively engaged
in concrete discussions and studies with business operators,
enterprises and related organizations on a wide range of issues.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has also
compiled a council report on how to implement the transition(together with a roadmap) based on about one and a half yearsof study, and has greatly accelerated the process by concentrating
its efforts on achieving a smooth transition, including systematic
improvements for greater effectiveness. Preparations for the
migration of facilities (including development and verification) are
now under way, and the actual transition process will start in 2021.
This transition process and the efforts of related organizations
will continue until we reach the milestones of service transition in
2024 and the completion of migration in 2025.
Now that we are approaching an important phase in thedevelopment of our communication infrastructure, we willcontinue to make every effort to support this initiative in our role
as a policymaker. Above all, we would like to express our sincere
gratitude for the great efforts and cooperation of everyone involvedin this initiative.
(Source of figures)• Figs. 1–10: S upplementary materials from reports by the
Information and Communications Council(“Ensuring a smooth transition of the fixed telephone
network”, published March 28, 2017 and September
27, 2017)• Fig. 11: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications＊19:	However, telecommunications carriers (MVNO, FVNO etc.) that do not assign numbers to users upon designation of a telecommunications number have established the same usage
plan as the standard telecommunications number usage plan stipulated by the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications , It is deemed to have been accredited by the
Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications.

New Breeze Autumn 201827

Overview of the 2018 White Paper on Information andCommunications in Japan
Economic Research Office, ICT Strategy Policy Division,
Information and Communications Bureau,
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

1. Introduction

The ever expanding use of the Internet and widespread
penetration of the Internet of Things (IoT) is fueling massive
growth in big data. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze
and interpret this data opens the way to the creation of new value.
A different view holds that we are in the era of a digitaltransformation in which society and the economy become driven
by data. This transformation is set in motion when ICT—AI, IoT,
etc.—began to be integrated into conventional socio-economic
systems: infrastructures, institutions, organizations, production
methods, and so on. These socio-economic systems will bereshaped to exploit ICT. We can also anticipate that, as the realworld and cyberspace are seamlessly integrated, many partially
optimized systems and institutions that until now have been
shut away in particular sectors or organizations will emerge asfully optimized solutions that are available to society as a whole(Figure 2).
This paper will provide an overview of Chapters 2 to 4 of thewhite paper, which deal primarily with the creation of new value
through ICT innovation.

On July 3, 2018, the Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications (MIC) published the 2018 White Paper on
Information and Communications in Japan. This year’s white
paper*1 focuses on the theme “Sustainable Growth by ICT in an
Era of Population Decline.”
The population of Japan has been in decline since the tipping
point in 2008, and the shrinking working-age population coupledwith a growing elderly population could have profound socioeconomic consequences as domestic demand and the scale of theeconomy contract and as labor shortages intensify (Figure 1).
However, harnessing information communication technology(ICT) to create new value by interconnecting myriad things—
people, objects, organizations, communities, and more—mayoffer a way to avoid the bleak consequences of this demographic
trend. ICT can lead the way to sustainable economic growtheven in the face of population decline by stimulating demand, byboosting productivity, and by promoting social and labor force
participation.

■ Figure 1: Change of the population and population composition of Japan（10 k）
14,00012,00010,000Estimated ﬁgures after 2016

8,000
6,000
4,000

Total population＊1 http://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/index.html.
http://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/eng/WP2018_outline.pdf

28

New Breeze Autumn 2018

0 -14 yrs

15 - 64 yrs

2061

2064

2058

2055

2052

2049

2046

2043

2037

2040

2031

65+ yrs

2034

2028

2025

2022

2019

2016

2013

2010

2007

2001

2004

1998

1995

1992

1989

1986

1983

1980

1977

1971

1974

1968

1965

1962

1959

1956

1953

1950

0

1947

2,000

■ Figure 2: Digital transformation
Shift from partial
optimization to total
optimization through“being connected”

Present
Real world

Easing traﬃccongestion

Cyberspace

FutureComfortabletransportation(self-driving)eﬃciency
improvement

The world where
the real world andthe cyber space areseamlessly connectedAI

Productivity
improvement

BD

Safe andsecure society

Safe buildings
Database

BD
IoT
AI

Prevention ofenvironmental
destruction

Early detectionof diseases

2. Formation of New Economies through ICT(white paper chapter 2)
ICT is expected to contribute to sustainable growth ofdemand. Here we will highlight the potential role of ICT in theformation of new markets and economies, that transcend thebarriers separating industries with several examples of X-Tech*2
and the sharing economy.
(1) Development of X-Tech
There has been significant movement in recent years to exploit
digital technology and new ICT across a wide range of industries
and types of businesses. Often described under the rubric of
X-Tech, we now have FinTech in finance, EdTech in education,
MedTech in medicine, and so on.

Sustainable society

Improvement inquality of healthTaking just one example, FinTech opens the way for onestop financial services encompassing household accounts anddistribution of assets to different financial institutions, and AIbased optimal asset management for users and investment services
involving relatively small amounts of money, which would help
revitalize Japanese asset management.
(2) Sharing economy
By utilizing online ICT platforms, individuals are able
to participate in the market as service providers. The typicalexample is that of a sharing economy. The sharing economy
grows consumption by bringing latent demand to the surface
and eliminating supply shortages, while markedly expanding theeffects of peripheral businesses and services (Figure 3).

■ Figure 3: I mage of sharing economy’s contribution to economy (example of private lodging service)
Expand consumption by eliminating supply shortages
Couldn't get a hotel when
I wanted, but luckily got aroom in a private lodging.

Nice to not have to get
up if guest arrive late atnight.

Private lodging service

Didn't want to stay at an
expensive hotel, so let's
stay at economical private
lodging.

Key delivery
serviceExpansion of peripheral businesses

Expand consumption by latent demand＊2 Pronounced “x tech” or “cross tech”.

New Breeze Autumn 201829

3. Productivity Improvement andOrganizational Reform through ICT(white paper chapter 3)
A decline in national population is typically reflected in adecrease in gross domestic product (GDP), or total value of goods
and services in the country. Improved productivity is essential
to boost the additional value of products with limited humanresources. Here we highlight the importance of implementing
ICT together with organizational reform to boost productivity.
(1) Labor productivity in Japan
Japan ranked 21st in a comparison of labor productivity per
man-hour of 35 OECD member countries, and had the lowest
productivity among the G7 economies (per employee in 2016).
(2) Improving labor productivity
Labor productivity is defined as (amount of additional value)/(labor input); that is, the amount of additional value createdby a worker in an hour. Productivity can be increased by either
reducing the denominator or by increasing the numerator,
but leveraging ICT to increase the numerator (i.e., improving
amount of additional value) side of the equation is generally more
effective. A trial calculation was conducted based on the resultsof a questionnaire sent out to Japanese companies to determine
whether improving the efficiency of labor input or increasing
additional value was more effective in boosting the productivityof labor. We found that the productivity of labor could beenhanced 1.1 times by saving labor associated with the work,
but productivity could be enhanced 4.0 times by adding value toexisting products and services or by developing new products andservices (Figure 4).
(3) Necessity of organizational reform
Japan’s labor productivity growth lags behind the U.S. andother G7 nations. Measures for shoring up Japan’s productivity canbe divided into four types of innovations: organizational, process,marketing, and product.
In a survey comparing recent innovations by major American
corporations versus Japanese corporations, it was found that U.S.
corporations outperformed Japanese corporations across theboard in all four types of innovations. In terms of organizationalinnovation, for example, the U.S. corporations completed
corporate restructuring more than three years ago, while a goodnumber of Japanese corporations were still struggling withrestructuring over the past three years (Figure 5). Organizational
reform is clearly essential to derive increased profits from ICT,and we can anticipate that Japanese corporations will step up theirrestructuring efforts in the years ahead.

4. Promoting Inclusion through ICT(white paper chapter 4)
As the population of Japan continues to shrink, metropolitan
areas are expected to become more densely populated and thenumber of single-person households will continue to rise. Thismeans that the population of socially isolated people may increase,since they lack trustworthy people such as family members toprovide companionship and assistance in case of emergencies.
One strategy for augmenting the labor force as the population
continues to decline will be to open the workforce to greater
participation from various categories of people who until now havebeen marginalized or underemployed such as women, older adults,
and people with disabilities.
(1) C ommunication through ICT to promote greater social
participation
Social media has become immensely popular, which has madeit much easier for people to connect and interact than was possible
in the days before the spread of the Internet. Social media provides■ Figure 4: Productivity and problem solving solutions through ICT

Major management
challenges
High cost
structure

Aspects resolved
through ICT(1) Improveeﬃciencyof labor input

Insuﬃcient
manpower
Commodiﬁcationof products

30

New Breeze Autumn 2018(2) Increase
additionalvalue

Increase in laborproductivity by ICT

Saving labor for operations…1.1 times higher

Improving the eﬃciency ofoperational processes…2.5 times higher

Enhancing the additional value ofexisting products and services
Development of new products,
services…4.0 times higher

■ Figure 5: Innovation in Japan vs. U.S.
0

〈Japan〉

2

Organization

4

2.9

6

3.4

Marketing

3.5

Products

3.3

Last 3 years

10

6.3

3.4

Process

8

6.3

2.9

More than 3 years ago

Underlined ﬁgures: total of last 3 years and more than 3 years
0〈U.S.〉
Organization
Process

2

4

1.9

8.2

10
8.7
9.4

8.3

Marketing

Last 3 years

8

6.7

1.3

Products

6

4.9
More than 3 years ago

Underlined ﬁgures: total of last 3 years and more than 3 years
Based on a survey, we asked corporations to provide examples of each typeof innovation. We then calculated averages for the total number of examples.

a way of gathering information, a way of making new friends, anda host of other beneficial uses. In surveying what Japanese users
and foreign users like about social media, we found that far fewer
Japanese users (compared with users in other countries) saw thebenefits of social media for (a) building new relationships and (b)strengthening existing relationships.
Social media also offers a way to complement or supplement
contacts in the real world. For example, visualization throughICT enables people who are in a position to help to reach out andassist communities that need help, it opens the way to communitybased SNSs and sharing economy platforms that promote mutual
aid and cooperation among local people in the community, andsupports a wide range of initiatives all across the country.
(2) New ways of working supported by ICT
ICT supports diverse ways of working that enable people toclosely communicate with colleagues in the office and to workwithout actually going to the workplace The 2018 White Paper
on Information and Communications discusses three types of ICTsupported work options is some detail: (1) business ICT tools, (2)telework, and (3) crowdsourcing.
(a) Business ICT tools
In recent years we have seen a vast increase in deployment
and usage of tools facilitating communications, workforce
management, and other administrative capabilities such as inhouse SNS, chat, web conferencing, and other advanced features.
A survey revealed that adoption of business ICT tools at an officeor company did not have any discernable impact on ease of work
for individual employees. Yet we also found that the employees
who were most positive in their adoption and use of the ICT tools
evaluated ease of work and working conditions more favorably.
This would indicate that not only adoption of business ICT tools
but positive use of the tools by employees is connected to theperception of ease of work or favorable working conditions.
(b) Telework
Telework is a flexible workstyle that exploits ICT to enable
employees to make more efficient use of time and spaces.
According to the Communications Usage Trend Survey in 2017,13.9% of Japanese companies currently support telework in someform, and more widespread adoption of the practice is anticipated.
Through an interview with employees who are not using but
desiring to use telework, we discovered there are yet a number ofsticking points in the corporate work environment and corporate
rules that prevent telework schemes from being implemented.
Most of the responses emphasized that “lack of relevant rules in
the company” and “lack of social environment for telework.”(c) Crowdsourcing
A survey regarding crowdsourcing revealed that 30% of
respondents had heard of the concept, but only 4.7% had actuallyused crowdsourcing in performing their work. We assume that
crowdsourcing will achieve far greater name recognition and usage
among independent teleworkers as they take on crowdsourcingrelated contracts and assignments in the years ahead.

New Breeze Autumn 201831

= A Serial Introduction Part 1=
Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2018
In May every year, The ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) proudly presents ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards to people who have madeoutstanding contributions in the field of international standardization and have helped in the ongoing development of ICT.
These Awards are also an embodiment of our sincere desire to encourage further contributions from these individuals in the future.
If you happen to run into these winners at another meeting in the future, please say hello to them.
But first, as part of the introductory series of Award Winners, allow us to introduce some of those remarkable winners.

Motohiro Abe

NTT DOCOMO, INC.
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/

Fields of activity: Standardization of the mobile core network

The world of standardization
I am delighted to have been selected to receive the ITU-AJ
Encouragement Award, and thank the company for putting my nameforward.
Here I would like to introduce something that we tend to take for
granted—the world of standardization.
Standardization is the process of making a product conform toa standard. For example, consider the familiar dry cell battery. The
size has been standardized, so we are able to purchase standard AAA
batteries sold under countless brand names all over the world. The key
here is interchangeability; for all practical purposes, any AAA battery
is the same as any other AAA battery, and will power your device justthe same.
My area of expertise is mobile network roaming—the ability to
use your cell phone outside your home service area—and here too
standardization is critically important. Without roaming, your cell
phone would drop calls as soon as you got out of your home service
area. We at 3GPP are currently working on a roaming architecture for
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) called S8 Home Routing (S8HR). S8HR is

Atsuro Ichigaya
Shunsuke Iwamura
Shimpei Nemoto

simple to implement, and thus shortens the time to rollout.
Standardization is more complicated than just setting uniformcharacteristics of AAA batteries or other products. It also refers to
the creation and use of common rules and guidelines in a particularindustry. In the mobile industry, for example, the GSM (Groupe
Spécial Mobile) Association orchestrates standardization activities.
The GSMA does not actually create standards, but rather represents
the interests of its members—mobile operators, manufacturers, andother interested parties—who develop common rules and regulations
for the industry. These rules enable roaming and interoperability for
new mobile technologies.
It will be apparent that the world of standardization is far fromthe techno-geek discipline that you might have imagined. It isessential for establishing uniform characteristics of products, aswell as for establishing common rules and guidelines for different
industries. If you are interested to jumping into this chaotic yet
challenging world, I would encourage you to do so!

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
https://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/index-e.html

Fields of activity: ITU-T SG16 WP3 Q.6(Video Coding)International standardization of video coding
It is a great honor to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement Award,
and I would express my sincere appreciation to the ITU Associationof Japan and to all those who helped us along the way.
On the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) of
ITU-T SG16 WP3 Q.6 (VCEG) and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG
11 (MPEG), we have been working on the High Efficiency Video
Coding (H.265) standard and its extensions.
Around 2015, we saw a surge on interest among filmmakers,
broadcasters, and other video industry players in High Dynamic

32

New Breeze Autumn 2018

Range (HDR) video, and in 2016 the JCTVC began studying a supplement that would
provide HDR coding guidelines for H.265
codecs. Interestingly, the HDR standard allows
for two competing HDR workflows: Perceptual
Quantization (PQ ) developed in the U.S., andHybrid-Log Gamma (HLG) developed in acollaborative effort by NHK and the BBC. PQ
supports video services in well managed viewing

environments such as in movie theaters, while HLG is optimized forbroadcasting where a wider range of viewing environments would beassumed. In developing guidelines for these two different formats,it was critically important that when we came up with an effective
proposal for one, we had to scrutinize it very carefully to make surethat it did not adversely affect the other. We scrutinized and discussed
the data of repeated verification experiments. The results of thesedeliberations were published in 2017 as Supplements 15 and 18 to
ITU-T H-series Recommendations.
In 2018, we agree to create a new joint collaborative team between

Koichi Ichikawa

MPEG and VCEG called the Joint Video Experts Team (JVET)
that immediately set to work on a next-generation video coding
standard that will significantly improve the compression performance.
We believe the deliberations made in JCT-VC will also be utilized in
the development of the new standard that includes HDR coding with
its scope.
Through active involvement in JVET, we are committed todeveloping a next-generation video coding standard that will support
future broadcasting services.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East - Minamikantou Corporation
kouichi.
http://www.ntt-east.co.jp/en/

Fields of activity: Telecommunications

Activities in the United Republic of Tanzania and the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam
It is a great honor to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement Award.
My first involvement in international cooperation was a two-year stintin Tanzania as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV). I
remember feeling a sense of elation and hope coupled with trepidation
as the plane departed from Narita in December 1986 for the two-day
trip to Dar es Salaam. A month later, I was assigned to serve as atelephone line engineer for the Dar es Salaam Telephone Companyof Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications with responsibility
for maintaining underground cable. Basically my job involved
technology transfer working together Tanzanian telecom employees
to troubleshoot and repair problems using special measurement gearand equipment. During the first year, we had over 80,000 repair
requests for 24,000 subscriber lines, and I finished two full years ofcooperative activity cleaning up Tanzania’s poor telephony situation.
Then in 2007, I got involved in an optical access trial in ThangLong Industrial Park in Hanoi, Vietnam. This was a collaborative

Junichi Iwatani

venture between NTT Group and Hanoi Telecom Group to install a
Gigabit-Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON) in the ThangLong Industrial Park central office, to connect the GE-PON to the
Hanoi Telecom network, then upgrade transmission speed and verify
network stability through data transmissions to and from Japan.
The role of our company, NTT-ME, was technology transfer in the
broadest sense of the term. This involved preliminary investigationand design, drawing up a list of equipment to be procured, assemble
trial equipment on time, prepare a manual, supervise on-the-job
training, and ensure Hanoi Telecom operations and maintenance are
running smoothly after the trial equipment is installed.
I experienced firsthand the high expectations of Vietnam throughimplementation of this optical access trial. Based on my experiences
overseas, I think I will have other opportunities to help countries
upgrade their telecom infrastructure in the years ahead.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
http://www.ntt.co.jp/index_e.html

Fields of activity: ITU-R SG5 WP5A, Wireless LAN

Activities to Improve Operational Conditions of Wireless LANs
It is a great honor to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement Award.
Starting in 2015, I was engaged in preparing and revising the draft
standard of the next-generation high efficiency wireless LAN(802.11ax) in the IEEE 802.11 Task Group ax, and in 2017 I joined
the Japanese delegation to ITU-R WP5A to work on revision of 5
GHz wireless LAN operational conditions (WRC-19 Agenda Item1.16).
In ITU-R WP5A meetings, I am currently focusing on activities
to relax restrictions on 5 GHz wireless LANs including expansionof outdoor use, and in the draft CPM text for the WRC-19 recently
completed in May 2018 we have successfully reflected some of Japan’s
proposals to allow outdoor use and higher power transmission in the
5.2 GHz band as an option for revision of the Radio Regulations.

The immediate issue is whether the frequency band can be sharedwith other systems once the regulations are relaxed. While we haveconducted technical studies and insisted that the frequency band canbe shared under certain conditions so far, it is imperative that thisshould be reflected in an ITU-R Report on sharing and compatibility.
Based on these technical studies, I would like to work on building a
consensus at the ITU-R meetings on relaxing the conditions towardrevision of the regulations at the WRC-19.
Based on my own experience working for both the IEEE andthe ITU-R meetings, I would like to contribute over the long term
to further upgrading operational conditions of wireless LANs andraising Japan’s profile and influence in standardization meetings.

New Breeze Autumn 201833

New Breeze
平成三十年十月十日発行（年四回一、四、七、十月の十日発行）第三十巻第四号（通巻百二〇号）

定価

一冊

一、六二〇円 （本体価格 一、五〇〇円、消費税 一二〇円） 年間購読料

The ITU Association of Japan六、四八〇円 （本体価格 六、〇〇〇円、消費税 四八〇円）